True or false: Olive oil and corn oil can become carcinogenic/cancer causing when used to fry food?

Question

My mom has been using regular cooking oil all this time. I adviced my mom to switch to either corn oil or olive oil, because those are healthy oils that don't contain ingredients that harm one's health. Then my sister told my mother not to do so because she claims when you cook your food with olive or corn oil, the oil will become carcinogenic, hence cancer-causing. Is this true at all? Thanks in advance.

by cooking the food, I mean mostly deep frying them on a hot stove.

Answer 1

Olive oil, as with any fatty substance, deteriorates during the frying process especially if it is used over and over and if the frying temperature is very high. High temperature destroys the good ingredients of any oil while it creates harmful agents for the liver, the arteries and the heart.
It is important however to take into consideration that these harmful agents are less likely to be created in olive oil than in all other known vegetable oils and this is because olive oil has a different composition. It contains a high percentage of oleic
acid, which is much more resistant to oxidization than the polyunsaturated acids, which are found in large amounts in seed oils. But more importantly olive oil contains natural anti-oxidizing agents such as phenols and vitamin E. When heated, olive oil is
the most stable fat, which means it stands up well to high frying temperatures. Its high smoking point (210º C) is well above the ideal temperature for frying food (180º ). The digestibility of olive oil is not affected when it is heated, even when it is re-
used several times for frying.
It is known that populations with a Mediterranean lifestyle and habitually use olive oil as their primary source of fat for cooking and dressing foods live longer, healthier lives.
Researches are beginning to focus on some of the other elements in olive oil, elements that are similar to anti-cancer compounds found in some fruits and vegetables. Olive oil does appear to have a role not only in combating heart disease
but also in the control of excess weight, diabetes and in protection against some kinds of cancer.

Answer 2

Olive Oil Carcinogenic

Answer 3

Olive oil is very good for you,,, but there is a few reasons why it's not used for deep frying. 1.) Differant oils have differant "smoke points". Olive oil will start to smoke at about 300 degrees. Normal frying temp is 350 degrees. Once an oil, like olive oil, reaches it's smoke point, it begins to break down, making it unusable and giving it a very bad flavor. 2.) Olive oil has a great flavor,,, but that flavor can overwhelm the flavors of other foods. When deep frying, you still want to preserve the flavor of whatever it is you are frying,,, if you were to eat a plate full of French Fries made w/ Olive Oil,,, you would get tired of the flavor about half was through eating it. 3.) Olive oil is expensive. It would cost restaurants a lot of money to properly maintain a fryer filled with Olive Oil. An average fryer holds anywhere between 2-3 gallons of oil,,, and you would need to change the olive oil about twice a day, when you can use canola or vegetable oil for an average of 2-5 days! A huge differance on cost control. I hope this helps you out in your thoughts of using Olive Oil for deep frying. :-)

Answer 4

I think regular cooking oil is usually corn oil. I have heard that the incidence of illness among cooks who fry vegetables in outdoor Indian markets is relatively very high due to breathing the fumes. I have reduced my consumption of fried oils by using a little water, tomato, or broth for moisture and adding oils when the cooking is almost done or when the food is cool as in salads. To research the benefits and detriments of oils and fats, read about mono-, polyun-, and saturated fats and also transfats. I try to remove saturated fat from beef and other fatty animal foods by cutting, melting, marinating, and cooking with water and then draining and rinsing with a strainer during preparation. I like to add vegetables and herbs and spices for health and desirable taste and flavor. I think these things are important, but sometimes difficult to do. Also there are a lot of extremists and cure-all marketers filling the void of ignorance in health subjects, so good luck.

Answer 5

Italians have been using olive oil for hundreds of years to sauté their food in. If they aren’t baking it, it’s probably being sautéed in olive oil.

I honestly believe that there is no better oil to use when one is sautéing.

There are exceptions though:

The Chinese use a lot of peanut oil because they cook at such hot temperatures.

And you wouldn’t want to use olive oil for deep frying. You know; 425 degrees battered shrimp and such. Those typical vegetable oils your mother has been using are probably best for this application.

Oh and your sister probably heard some stupid rumor. What does she know anyway?
I have heard NOTHING about olive oil being carcinogenic, and or cancer-causing.

Answer 6

If this was true, the whole population of greece, spain, italy, some france and many more countries would be dead by now.

Answer 7

One of the things you should research is something called acrylamides... carcinogenistic cooking with oils.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrylamide


I'm allergic to autofumes but deep friers cause similar symptoms in me.

Ob1

Answer 8

only if it is over cooked. same thing occurs when cooking on a charcoal grill

Answer 9

see: http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/fats_and_cancer.html

and remember, it has been show in the laboratory that white mice cause cancer.

Answer 10

no, not at all, that's ridiculous